Wisconsin recall turnout: 119 percent? Not exactly

By all reports, voter turnout is extremely high in Wisconsin today and Twitter has been abuzz with reports of 119 percent turnout in the liberal stronghold of Madison.

But that number — which would have meant more voters than people actually registered to vote before Election Day (a possibility due to same day registration) — appears to be off-the-mark.

According to Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl’s office — where the original report is said to have originated — the projected turnout there is on a pace for 96 percent, not 119 percent.

Still, that's pretty astounding.

It’s possible it looked like 119 percent at one time; the clerk's office told me that turnout numbers are extrapolated by looking at actual turnout at various intervals during the day. As of 4 .pm. Central, 48 percent of registered voters had actually turned out. The 96 percent figure is calculated by doubling that figure at the close of polls at 8 p.m.